APT distances itself from crypto-currencies

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has reportedly declared that its upcoming APT Macau Championships 2018 will abide by local laws and have no use, association or involvement with crypto-currencies.

According to a report from GGRAsia citing an earlier press release from the APT, last week saw the poker tournament organizer announce a sponsorship deal with CoinPoker.com, which it described at the time as a ‘worldwide crypto-currency-based’ online poker domain. It had purportedly hoped to use this relationship in order to offer players the ability to win seats into its land-based competitions via online tournaments utilizing the site’s proprietary CHP crypto-currency.

However, the APT was reportedly soon advised by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau quoting earlier guidelines issued by the Monetary Authority of Macau that crypto-currencies were ‘neither a legal tender nor a financial instrument subject to supervision’.

As such, the APT has now reportedly distanced its APT Macau Championships 2018 from CoinPoker.com by declaring that it had simply been ‘considering’ the use of crypto-currencies as a way of expanding the appeal and reach of its tournaments to players around the world with a particular focus on those located in Europe.

“Clearly each APT event is different and we are mindful of local operating guidelines,” read a Wednesday statement from Jeff Mann, Chief Executive Officer for the APT. “I can confirm that the APT Macau Championships 2018 will not be associated with crypto-currencies in any way and I apologize for any confusion in the market.”

The APT Macau Championships 2018 is scheduled to run for twelve days from April 25 inside Macau’s Babylon Casino featuring 18 events including a $25,500 buy-in super high-roller game alongside a more modest $560 buy-in main event that is nevertheless promising a $254,900 prize pool.